US STOCKS-Wall St sinks as yuan slide intensifies U.S.-China trade dispute

* Yuan drops below key level, drawing criticism from Trump
* Technology shares lead broad sell-off
* Tyson Foods rises after profit beats estimates
* Indexes plummet: Dow 3.26%, S&P 3.34%, Nasdaq 3.88%

(Updates to late afternoon, changes byline, adds NEW YORK to
dateline)
By April Joyner
NEW YORK, Aug 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks tumbled on Monday,
with the benchmark S&P 500 sliding more than 3%, as a fall in
the yuan following U.S. President Donald Trump's vow to impose
additional tariffs on Chinese goods sparked fears of further
escalation of the U.S.-China trade war.
The S&P 500 was on track for its biggest one-day percentage
decline since February 2018. It has fallen for six straight
sessions.
The yuan reached its lowest level in more than a decade
after the People's Bank of China, with the blessing of
policymakers, set its daily midpoint at 6.9225 per dollar, the
weakest level in eight months. On Twitter, Trump called the action a "major violation" and
"currency manipulation." A weaker yuan and a stronger dollar pose challenges for U.S.
companies that do substantial business in China, as it
effectively raises the cost of their goods for Chinese
customers.
Shares of S&P 500 technology companies .SPLRCT , which are
heavily exposed to Chinese markets, dropped 4.5%.
Apple Inc AAPL.O shares slid 5.3% as analysts warned that
the newly proposed tariffs may hurt demand for the iPhone, while
the Philadelphia semiconductor index .SOX dropped 4.8%.
Several investors viewed China's willingness to allow the
yuan to drop below the seven-per-dollar level as a direct
response to Trump's announcement of 10% tariffs on an additional
$300 billion of Chinese imports.
"It's the escalation of the trade war," said Steven
DeSanctis, equity strategist at Jefferies in New York. "The
dollar strengthening presents another issue. For companies that
do a lot of business outside the U.S., it all adds up."
Adding to the tensions, China's Commerce Ministry said that
Chinese companies have stopped buying U.S. agricultural products
and that China will not rule out imposing import tariffs on U.S.
farm products that were bought after Aug. 3. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 864.27 points,
or 3.26%, to 25,620.74, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 97.94 points, or
3.34%, to 2,834.11 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
310.54 points, or 3.88%, to 7,693.53.
The Cboe Volatility Index .VIX , an options-based gauge of
investor anxiety, rose 6.26 points to 23.87, its highest in
about seven months.
No. 1 U.S. meat processor Tyson Foods Inc TSN.N was one
bright spot. Its shares rose 5.0% after the company beat
quarterly profit estimates. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
6.51-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, a 6.90-to-1 ratio favored
decliners.
The S&P 500 posted three new 52-week highs and 30 new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 12 new highs and 255 new lows.